Effects of Residency by State and Race on Life Expectancy in USA

One of the common and peculiar explanations about why average life-expectancy in USA is about 3 years less than most other developed countries goes something like this: “It is because of ‘the Blacks’ who have lower life expectancy than Whites because of genetics”. The person who makes this argument will then, almost always, go on to make another related claim: “Whites in USA have the same life expectancy as Whites in other developed countries”. Well.. it just happens that the second claim is false, while the first one is demonstrably false.

But before we go there, here (below) is a map of average life-expectancy by state in USA. You will immediately notice that many states in the American South have rather low average life-expectancy compared to states on the north-east and west coast of USA. It turns out that average life-expectancy in southern and many mid-western states is below the national average of USA- which itself is about 3 years less than most other developed countries. But it gets worse. Many “far poorer countries” (as measured per-capita income in USD) such as Mexico have average life expectancy figures that are superior to most states in the American South.

But it is the effect of residency by state AND race on average life expectancy that is truly amazing- for some people, at least. You can get the long-form of the data here or the wikipedia version here.

It turns out that Blacks in many coastal states live longer than Whites in many southern states. In eight southern states (Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, West Virginia, Mississippi) the average life expectancy for Whites is below 77 years. Curiously, there are six states (Minnesota, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, Oregon) in which average life expectancy for Blacks is over 77 years. Given that over 90% of people with Black ancestry in USA can trace their origins in this country to the pre-1810 era, it is certainly odd that Blacks living in certain states today live upto 8 years longer than their equivalents in some other states.

The state of residence, then, has a large impact on average life-expectancy than race in USA.

But it gets even more interesting. The gap between the numbers for White and Black average life expectancy pales in comparison to that between Hispanics and Whites. Hispanics, you see, appear to live years longer than their White counterparts- even in populous and relatively affluent states such as California, Massachusetts and New York. I should note that this is true in spite of the fact that Hispanics typically tend to be less affluent than Whites. People of Asian ancestry, of course, have the longest life-expectancy of any racial group in USA- but that statistic has a significant competent of higher social class and levels of education.

On another note, the gap between White and Black average life expectancy is highest in mid-western states such as Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, Kansas, Pennsylvania and Michigan. It is the lowest in states such as Minnesota, New York, Oregon and Nevada. Curiously, the gap between White and Black life expectancy is only moderate in the American South- which is another way of saying that it is bad for both of them in those states. I am sure that many of my readers will have a lot more to say about this post and the data in the reports which it was derived from.

The deep south is mostly poor people ,outside of major cities, is the main reason for the low life expectancy compared to other regions;the same folks down south who hates Obamacare be the same idiots who really need Obamacare. I also think Texas and Florida have a slightly higher life expectancy than the rest of the southern states due to the significant size population of Hispanics.

No surprises about Sweden/Noway USA. Why the quiet homogeneous people of St. Paul imported all those alien Somalis is beyond me. I hope they enjoy the after effects of their white liberal guilt because SPPS is now fucked.
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So how do you explain the high life expectancy of fairly multi-ethnic countries like Singapore and Chile? Also why is the life expectancy of Black people in UK so much higher than in USA?

Also, why are the numbers for Black life expectancy in New York and Massachusetts so good as compared to Wisconsin and Michigan?

Detroit. They’re literally hunting whitetail deer within the city limits at this point. What a mess. I saw a post on Reddit last month about a failed attempt to save another historical building. It fell over before they could restore it. Dreams, it’s all they have at this point.
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Detroit is just an early example of what most of flyover country (especially the Midwest) will look like within a decade. And yes.. that includes supposedly “white” cities and towns.

Inner city Milwaukee is long gone. The city’s policy is containment at this point.

State data is meaningless. Look at neighborhoods within upper Midwest cities. They tell the real story.
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Give it 8-10 years.. and nobody will know the difference or care about what happens in flyover country.

What’s really sad about all this is that the solution is so simple- redistribute wealth. Invest in jobs programs, repair schools, make sure that kids and families are well fed and have good health care. You’d see many of the problems go away. But no, let’s keep cutting everything and giving money away to the rich…
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The even sadder part is there are enough poor white idiots who will still shout “socialism” if you suggest the obvious solution.

The solution is simple to conceive but entirely impossible to implement without violent revolution and to the death armed struggle.

“Redistribute wealth” –sure.

Easier said than done.

The wealthy will never redistribute their wealth voluntarily or even lawfully. “Everything for us and nothing for anyone else” is their credo and always has been. Get ready to fight or forget about it.

Regrettably true. Rarely in human history have any substantial changes occurred without violence, suffering, and bloodshed.

Heck, the US only exists as a nation because of a violent revolution against Great Britain. Slavery as a legitimate economic option was only ultimately abolished in the US because of violent conflict. These and other events occurred so relatively recently in world history that those of us born in the US ought to be acutely aware that truth about significant change usually requiring violence and suffering.

Maybe in some idyllic alternate dimension a parallel to humanity exists which usually achieves major change through peaceful or non-violent methods, but, this humanity ainnnnnnnn’t that one.
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Are the longevity statistics corrected for crime? I can imagine that violence could skew the averages. It’s also true when comparing Canadian or British health care to the US: gunshot wounds are a lot more expensive than frostbite or eating fish & chips.
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Are you suggesting that NY is a less dangerous place than somewhere in the Midwest?

I’m simply surprised that so many people in the US (heartland of capitalism) think that they can run a functioning country on “goodwill” and “I’m alright Jack” and “work hard and you will succeed” platitudes.

On the other hand, success has a way of making people think it will continue forever.

As Martin Armstrong argued, we are witnessing the final collapse of socialism, and the collapse of the world wide government bond bubble, and the rise of Asia and decline of social welfare states of Us and Europe.